Redundant connections are provided in various networks, e.g. the Internet, to secure the data traffic in networks and between networks. A redundant connection is a connection to a network or networks, e.g. the Internet, backed up with secondary resources. A redundant connection has more than one connection to a network to secure the transmission of data over or to the network in case the primary connection fails. If the primary route for data traffic fails in some way, a secondary route for the data traffic is provided.
Today, network operators may have routing problems in Core and Edge/border networks which may cause failures of the data traffic and data communication, such as traffic break-ups or intermittent connections in delicate redundant connections between the customer's communication devices and the backbone network. The backbone network can cover a Core and/or an Edge network. Redundant connections must be secure to provide secure data traffic, and in relation to the customers, the redundant connections must have high Service Level Agreement requirements.
Operators are currently using Border Gateway Protocol, BGP, in their backbone network. The BGP is the core routing protocol of the Internet. BGP works by maintaining a table of Internet Protocol, IP, networks or “prefixes” which designate network reachability among autonomous systems, AS. BGP can be described as a path vector protocol. BGP does not use traditional Interior Gateway Protocol, IGP, metrics, but makes routing decisions based on path, network policies and/or rule sets.
Securing of redundant subscriptions at Local Area Network, LAN, level is implemented by applying a Hot Standby Router Protocol, HSRP, protocol which is used by routers for monitoring and controlling each other's status. HSRP decides which router handles the traffic of subscription. Securing of connection from the customer's communication device to the backbone network is implemented by dynamic BGP and this may cause corrupted routing to the backbone network at certain failure situations. When interruptions or failures occurs at the router components, routing information can still be transferred between customer devices and the gateway of the backbone network, and the connection or data transfer can appear to function without any problems, although the routing table is broken or at least incorrect and cannot function properly. A consequence of corrupted routing tables is that IP traffic cannot be routed from this gateway to backbone network.
The routing table is an electric document of IP addresses, which stores the routes to various nodes in a network, where the nodes can be any kind of electric device connected to the network. The routing table is usually stored in a router or networked computer in the form of a database or a file. When data needs to be sent from one node to another node, the routing table is referred to in order to find the best possible route for the transfer of data. In dynamic routing, the network devices themselves automatically build and maintain their own routing tables. They do this by exchanging information regarding the network topology using routing tables.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,174-B1 discloses a method for a redundant port system in which any port in a packet-forwarding device can be designated as a redundant port for any other port. The redundant port system detects when the primary port fails or is about to fail, and activates or begins to activate the redundant port as a backup.
WO 2007/002495-A2 discloses a method and an apparatus for providing convergence for dual-homed site in a network, where an occurrence of a failure between a first Provider Edge device and a first Customer Edge device in communication with a dual-homed site is detected.